Education < Side

International Diplomacy Council at 50: Largest People-to-People Diplomacy Program in US

Jos Phillips, an International Diplomacy Council visitor from Holland, visits a Bay Area elementary school.

"IDC was one of the first of a nationwide network of local councils hosting emerging international leaders."

The world has changed a lot in 50 years. However, one thing that hasn't changed is the need for the kind of "people-to-people" diplomacy practiced by the Bay Area's International Diplomacy Council (IDC). The organization recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

As Representative Nancy Pelosi said at IDC's 2002 Annual Meeting on April 19, the "citizen diplomacy" of IDC strengthens global efforts at peaceful conflict resolution and "helps in a humanitarian way throughout the world" through "people understanding people."

Founded in 1952, IDC was one of the first of a nationwide network of local councils hosting emerging international leaders. Today, IDC is the largest in that network and receives an average of 1,500 international visitors every year.

IDC provides opportunities for citizen diplomacy by arranging professional, cultural, and educational meetings between foreign visitors and citizens of the Bay Area. Through these exchanges, foreign visitors gain positive and in-depth perceptions of the United States and its citizens.

According to Ed Richards, an IDC International Visitor and an advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "This is an excellent way of building understanding between different countries. Only by reaching out in this way and exchanging views and perspectives can we hope to work together for a better world."

Although its basic mission has stayed the same over the past 50 years, the organization's activities have shifted from a primary focus on hospitality to more specialized programming. For example, IDC recently organized a program focused on the issue of human trafficking for several visitors from South Asia. These visitors had a chance to see how the US handles similar issues and made valuable contacts with American organizations focused on trafficking.

For more information on IDC, contact Frank Dammann at (415) 986-1388, ext 212.